When I was little, my parents would pack us into the car on a summer morning. We would drive out to a farm, and spend the next few hours stuffing our face with strawberries. (The objective was to pick strawberries in order to take them home, but I ended up eating more than what went into my bucket.) Fast forward a few decades, and I'm back out in the strawberry fields. This time, though, I'm getting quite a bit more in my bucket than in my mouth.

Winnipeg is surrounded by "U-Pick" fruit farms, and they offer a lot more than just strawberries. Raspberries, saskatoons and black currants are also available, although strawberry farms are by far the most numerous. This year we went to Boonstra Farms, which is only about 15 minutes north of the Perimeter Highway. Winnipeggers may be familiar with Boonstra because of their gigantic corn maze which opens in September, but during the summer they have 12 acres of strawberries. (This year they also added pick-your-own raspberries. Those are just coming into season now.)

We didn't choose an ideal day to go picking. Southern Manitoba has been plagued with thunderstorms and tornadoes this summer, but on this day, the rain wasn't supposed to arrive until the afternoon. Even still, the sky was gloomy as we made our way north of the city.

We arrived only an hour after they opened, but the parking lot was already full. When given the choice between picking regular berries or large premium berries, we decided to go with regular berries since most of them were destined to become jam anyway.

After a short tractor ride out to the fields, we grabbed a couple of baskets and got to work. Within an hour, we had filled two four liter baskets with berries, walked back to the checkout and were ready to go. And not a moment too soon! Thunderclouds were threatening while we were picking, and rain started to spatter the windshield as we pulled back out onto the highway.

While most of our strawberries were made into strawberry jam, several cups worth made their way into muffins, smoothies and cupcakes. We even used some in this month's Foodtv.ca's Cooking Club,
where they are making smoked salmon with strawberry salsa.

Strawberry picking is a great family activity; we saw several families with three generations working on filling their buckets. A few tips:

• Always call ahead to confirm that they are open and berries are available. These farms are almost always family run and are subject to the whims of the weather; both of these facts could force a closure on any particular day.
• Dress like you would do for yard work: long pants, a brimmed hat, and sturdy shoes you won't mind getting muddy.
• Don't forget sunscreen and bug spray, and bring water for everyone.
• Only pick the ripest berries. This ensures that you get berries that will have the best taste (having ripened completely on the plant) and that the farm will continue to have berries available to pick.
• Be gentle. Fully ripe strawberries can be damaged with rough handling.
• And finally, enjoy the fruits of your labour!

Sarah Braun, office worker and sushi aficionado, lives and eats in Winnipeg, home to her Winnipeg Eats blog.